What's in a name?
by JamieWhite18
Summary: Lux was never adopted. She came close once with a scientific family that changed her forever, in more ways than one. Now she has to answer to Cate too! Sometimes life just isn't what you think it is.
1. Chapter 1

_Lux. That was her name and no one knew it but her._

Sometimes Lux would dream. Sometimes she would beg. Other times nothing was enough and so nothing was what she did.

Lux was special. She wasn't unbelieveably smart, in fact she rarely went to school and she was only average when she did. She wasn't born special but now she was and still no one wanted her.

Lux had dirty blonde hair, soft blue eyes, and was average height. She was also in the foster care system. Her parents, whoever they were, hadn't wanted her and so there was where she had ended up and stayed off and on between foster homes at least until she decided to end her torture. Now here she was standing outside in the cold on top of a three story building watching as the cars passed and wondering where she had gone wrong.

Let's go back to where this all started. Three days ago.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: sorry if this has spelling mistakes. I no longer use the same computer I had when I started writing on Fanfiction and the computer I use now doesn't have a spell check option. If you do see a mistake let me know and I'll fix it as soon as possible.<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

_Three Days Earlier_

She sat in front of Fran, her new social worker and tried to plead her case. "I don't want another home nor do I want to stay here. The state hasn't given me a good home once! Not once!" she realized that she sounded a little like a child towards the end but it was too late to do anything about it.

"I'm sorry but there isn't anything I can do. Give me a few days and I'll find you a new home but there isn't anything I can do to help get you emancipated and honestly I don't suggest it for you." Fran replied looking as though she really meant every word she said. Lux knew better though. She had had enough social workers to know when someone was being false.

"Alright...could I...could I just see my file?" Lux asked letting resignation to color her tone.

"I can't do that Lux." Fran said. Suddenly though her cell started ringing and she left to answer it. Lux used that opportunity to swipe her file, gain what she was looking for, and put it back exactly how it was all before Fran re-entered the room.

When Fran did enter the room Lux sighed put her backpack over her shoulder and said "Thanks for your help anyway."

"Anytime," Fran replied, looking at her desk almost like she was making sure Lux's file hadn't moved as Lux seemed to have given up rather quickly. Finding that it was still there and it appeared to have been unmoved she smiled at Lux as she left.

_Four Hours Later_

Standing outside near a bridge Lux took a look at her file once more before sighing. Nathaniel Bazile. That was her father's name. Now how would she proceed? She could probably go in while he was drunk and get him to sign the papers no questions asked, but then that would mean that he most likely wouldn't remember or sign correctly leading to suspicions on its authenticity. She didn't need to waste time on that. No. She would have to meet him as herself during the day while he was sober.

This made her anxious and she would then have to keep a close eye on him until he died. She was hesitant to give out her name since it was so unusual and so easily tracked for that reason. She didn't want to be found by the wrong people.

She sighed. It didn't seem as though she had any other choice though. She would keep an eye on him afterwards and never make contact again and she could go into hiding for as long as she needed to once she had his signature. The thought made her smile but what caught her attention next wiped it off her face quickly.

She caught a scent of something that wasn't to her liking. **Victor**.

She had come so close to being adopted once but then one man had ruined it. Her foster father had been a scientist and he delighted in the fact that no one would care what happened to her. So he tested his projects on her and now she was a freak.

Her senses had been heightened greatly, how she was unsure, but she knew it was so. Occasionally her body would be racked with pain, and she could always feel it coming before it hit, and she always felt like she was fighting a war within herself. These things often made her feel very tired but there was nothing to be done about it.

She took off in the other direction of the scent to avoid a confrontation, luckily it was also the direction of where Nathaniel Bazile lived.


	3. Chapter 3

She stood outside the Open Bar anxiously debating whether to knock or not. She knew that with Victor in the area she could be putting Nathaniel Bazlie into serious danger. Victor was designed for the sole purpose of capturing her or killing her if capture was not possible. He was also given orders to kill anyone who stood in the way of her capture. She was bringing Bazlie into a very dangerous game that even she didn't know all the rules to.

She took a deep breath, locked a self-assured look onto her face and knocked.

The Next Morning

Lux looked at her mother and her mother looked at her. Cate Cassidy. That was her mom. Lux would have loved to say something profound, done something to get close to Cate but knowing Cate probably wouldn't like it and the fact that Victor was closing in fast kept her in check.

She should have known moving out in the open like that would attract his attention but she had been too focused on her goal and now the damage was done. She had to get them both, her mother and her father, out of the area. She had to leave them and meet Victor somewhere before he found their scents.

"Do you need anything?" Cate asked.

"Just this paper signed. I can't get emancipated without it." Lux said handing over the paper.

"From your parents?" Cate asked in confusion.

"From the foster system; she never got adopted." Baze broke in.

"Yeah, it's a long story and I don't have that amount of time so if you could just." Lux intervened. Her mind tracking how quickly the scent grew and so how fast Victor was approaching. Neutral air; the wind not distorting how quickly the scent came or left nor the direction for that matter as there was no wind to speak of.

Cate quickly signed the paper and asked if she needed anything else. Lux shook her head. "No, this should be it. I just have to give this to my social worker and I'll have everything for my court date." No need to tell her that the date was tomorrow.

"I can take you." Cate said almost desperately. To anyone else but Lux the desperation would have been lost in fake excitement but Lux was there and she easily picked up on it.

"If you're sure," Lux said trying to ease Cate's tension. "You aren't too busy with the show are you?"

"Well I could take you too it's no trouble." Baze said. There was a note of jealousy in his tone that neither Cate nor Lux caught.

Somehow she ended up in Cate's car. Logically she knew that Baze would probably be better at holding his own in a fight and so it would be best if she went with him since she would have to worry about him less but she wanted the time to get to know her mother. Lux also knew that if Victor was following her scent then it would lead straight to Cate's work. Victor would then know she was with Cate or at least had been and Cate would be in trouble with Lux none the wiser. Those two factors made Lux's decision easy. So while Lux was putting Cate in danger, she was also giving her a larger chance of survival.

They spoke for a while, almost crashed, and spoke some more. Cate seemed to sense her tension however because she kept looking at her as if she knew something was wrong or asked every few minutes if there was anything she could help her with.

When Lux finally got to her destination she broke. "If you really want to do something for me…don't…please don't go back to work today, don't go anywhere alone for the next day or so and don't… don't go anywhere isolated. Please. It's very important. Take a very long shower with strongly perfumed soap. Spray strong perfume where I was sitting and everywhere else in the car. "

"Why?"

"The monsters in the movies don't always stay there." Lux replied softly. With that she ran up into the building before Cate could say anything else, leaving Cate confused and worried.


	4. Chapter 4

Cate due to Lux's panic in her strange request had done as asked. She didn't understand why it was so important but lux made it seem as though it was the difference between life and death.

Lux on the other hand was trying to avoid staying in one place too long. She moved all about the city, twice she left it in order to throw Victor off the trail but she feared that it would all be in vein. She was wearing herself out much too quickly and if Victor did catch up the she would be too tired to fight.

That was her biggest fear. That Victor would find her and she would be too weak to fight him. Then she would be brought back to the insane foster father that had basically ruined her life. He would do more experiments on her; test her, as though she were nothing more than a lab rat. The thought alone sent a shiver down her spine. It had already happened once before and she was determined not to let it happen again.

_Court Date_

She heard them enter but she didn't look at them. She was trying to push her point through as quickly as possible while still getting emancipation. She knew the longer she stayed in that room the closer Victor came to her and she knew full well she was no match. She was faster than him yes but he always seemed to be able to beat her and it was only because she was good at escaping that she only got brought back once.

"I wanted a good home but the state just hasn't provided me with one." Lux countered the judge. That was where everything fell apart. The judge granted her birth parents custody of her and Victor was only a few minutes away furthermore both parents were currently arguing about the very fact that she existed.

"Forget parenting you both need parents!" Lux finally snapped at them. Then she took off for a high building that would give her a good look out.

So there she stood on a three story building watching as the cars passed by, unaware of the pair of eyes analyzing them as they past, anxiously waiting for Victor to appear.


	5. Chapter 5

It was nearing dawn when she first saw him. The sky was only just starting to turn grey. She knew he had been only fifteen minutes from her the entire night but he had waited for this moment because he knew that she knew that she couldn't escape him without a confrontation. So he waited until this moment so he would look more intimidating.

_He always was one for theatrics._ Lux thought. Once he was a few minutes away she turned and took off for a more private area, knowing he would follow. They stopped in some woods that would take hours for any car from Portland to make in only twenty minutes or at least she did, it took about an hour for Victor.

"You're getting slow in your old age." Lux commented faking confidence.

"Maybe I just liked the view." Victor commented in a way that made Lux shiver.

Lux remembered when she had first met Victor. He had been fifteen at the time but his body had already settled into maturity in a way that flattered him. He had had silver eyes that seemed to see everything and take everything before making a judgment. He had been very gentle with her, concerned. Despite the fact that they had been eleven years apart they had become very close and she had begun to struggle with how she saw him. He was like the perfect big brother and yet she had felt something for him. Only now did she realize that she loved him as nothing more than a brother.

Then that day came, Lux's foster father, Victor's real father had experimented on them both. Anderson, Victor's father had brought them down to his lab. Lux had been down there only twice before and Victor tried to avoid it whenever possible. The pain had been unbelievable and she knew that Victor had gone through the same pain because she had heard his screams the entire time, unable to block them out and unable to stop them.

Lux supposed that she must have just grown stronger from the pain; she rejected what she was becoming even before Anderson had strapped her down. Victor, who had grown up being bullied by his father and was already resigned to what he would become, had given in.

Now, while Victor's body only seemed to improve with attractiveness, his silver eyes were as cold as metal. They no longer held concern for her or anyone for that matter. He wasn't gentle, he was ruff and unrefined, violent. The fact that they had once been close no longer mattered to him and as much as she wanted to, she couldn't bring herself to hurt him.

It wasn't his fault. He wasn't the person she had once known. There was nothing left of that person. She had tried to reason with him the first time when he had tracked her down. She had tried to bring him back to her but there simply wasn't anything left to bring back, he was an empty shell and his father was to blame. She hadn't fought him back then that first time and so she had been brought back and experimented on once more but now she knew better. She knew no amount of conversation would make him spare her.

She looked at a knot in one of the nearby trees almost seeing a face. She didn't want to do this. She didn't want to fight him but she knew she didn't have a choice in the matter. She looked at the lake just a few meters away from where they stood before speaking.

"You hate me."

"Not so much you….as it is what you are." Victor smirked. It wasn't a smile but it still showed off one of his fangs. His white hair, which had once been black, fell only to mid-cheek on his face. She briefly wondered if it was the experiment or the pain itself that caused the change in hair color. She decided it was probably a mixture of both, either way it made him look sophisticated in a way that his black hair hadn't though he still wore it the same.

"What am I then?" she asked looking at him for the first time that morning now that the sun had risen and the sky was a greyish-blue as though a storm was rolling in.

"The same thing I am. We are both Father's property."

"I don't belong to anyone Victor, least of all your father."

Victor leapt forward knocking her backwards and away from the lake. They flew a few feet before Lux landed on her back and used her feet to push Victor off. She hated it when he started off a fight like that, unexpectedly. She quickly regained her footing and dodged another attack. It continued in a similar manner for about an hour, Lux keeping to the defensive.

"We can't go on like this Victor. How can you fight something you can't even hit?" Lux stated breathing hard. Victor was breathing heavily, more so than Lux.

"I can hit you." Victor said making another leap for her. This time Lux dodged and landed a kick to Victor's mid-section sending him flying into the lake. She took off running, headed in any direction but Portland. She knew it would only be a matter of time before he got out and when he did, he would be furious.

They ran, they fought; they got injured, all over the state of Oregon in any city but Portland until finally Lux succeeded and victor drew back. She knew he would be waiting just outside the state, licking his wounds and planning his next move but as she headed back to Portland and night began to fall she knew it would be a week or so, maybe more, before he would try to get her again. For now all she needed to do was find a place to stay for the night.

She approached Open Bar hesitantly, what she had said earlier or she supposed late the night before after the court session had been harsh and rude. She didn't know if he would be exactly pleased to see her but she had no other choice. She had no money and therefore no chance of getting somewhere to stay for the night unless she wanted to sleep outside. She was also hesitant to ask Cate as she wasn't sure if she would want her there and she didn't even know where Cate lived.

She opened the door to the bar, which was pretty much empty, and saw Baze immediately. The only other person there was Cate. They both looked tired and worried.

"I'm sorry but we're-" Baze started when he heard the door open but upon seeing her he stopped. Cate looked over when he didn't finish his sentence. A look of relief washed over them before they rushed over to her.

She was glad she carried clothes to change into because it would have been hard to hide the fact you were injured in ripped clothes, so she had changed in a public restroom before coming over. That still didn't erase the pain she felt run through her body when Baze hugged her tightly, having reached her first. Cate hugged her next but was much more gentle and it didn't hurt as much, physically anyway.

They started asking her if she was ok and where she had been both questions she kind of brushed off with "I'm fine" and "You don't want to know". She said them with such force they backed off and yet she had also said it gently almost soothingly that they almost believed her.

She sat at the bar and they talked for a few minutes before her stomach growled loudly. She frowned. She had been very active that day and used her abilities pretty much as far as she was willing to push them. It wasn't good for her body to do that for too long. If she was fighting her body shut down the need for food but now that she was done fighting and moving for the night she needed a lot of food.

"Would you like me to order something?" Cate said immediately without seeming overbearing. "We could go get something to eat. We could have it delivered."

"You don't have to." Lux said. "I can take care of myself."

"It's alright." Baze cut in, "you want anything special?"

"No seriously. I have a really fast metabolism. I eat a lot more than an average person." Lux said shaking her head.

"It's fine." Cate said. She started to dial a delivery place. "Is there anything you want? Anything you don't like?"

Lux shook her head. "Anything is fine."

Cate nodded and headed upstairs to order. Lux and Baze talked for a few minutes before Cate came back down. "It'll be here in half an hour." She informed them and they both nodded.

"So why do you have to eat a lot? I mean I know some people have fast metabolisms but they don't say they need to eat more, just more often." Baze said.

Lux's good mood vanished and a frown replaced her smile. "It's not something I like to talk about."

This only increased their confusion and heightened their worry. "If you told us we wouldn't have to ask." Baze replied before Cate could jump into the conversation.

"Maybe later," Lux consented. Both Baze and Cate wanted to push further but let it go, for now.

When the food arrived, both Lux and Cate when to the door; Lux knew there would be too much food for Cate to handle herself. The delivery guy looked surprised at all the food he was asked to deliver. "It seems like a lot of food for just three people." He said hesitantly.

"We're having a party. We just wanted the food before the guests arrived." Lux lied smoothly before Cate could say anything. Cate was starting to get annoyed at always being cut off but was amazed at how easily lying seemed to come to Lux.

The delivery man however seemed to accept this and once he was paid even helped bring in all the food before leaving. There was enough for an all you can eat buffet. "How much food did you order?" Baze asked.

"Just enough by the looks of it," Lux answered with a grin. Cate and Baze looked at her in surprise, wondering if she was joking or not. "Pick what you want out." Cate and Baze took a carton of Chinese each and left the rest to Lux. "Are you sure that's it?" Lux asked for conformation.

They both nodded. "We ate about three hours ago." Cate informed her. "You can have the rest."

It was Lux's turn to nod. She took the food and moved to a far off table and began to gobble down her food. Cate and Baze shared a look wondering why she left with the food instead of staying at the bar. They attempted to get closer to ask but when they got within touching distance of the food she sent a feral growl their way causing them to take a few steps back. She seemed satisfied with that because she went back to eating peacefully but she did look at them every few minutes to make sure they hadn't come any closer.

Finally after seventeen minutes Lux had finished all the food and looked satisfied. Cate stepped towards her and relaxed when Lux looked at her but didn't do anything hostile. Cate sat down next to Lux. "Why did you growl at us when we got close?"

"Got close?" Lux asked in confusion before a look of realization and understanding crossed her face. "I was eating."

"Yes, while you were eating. Why did you growl?" Cate asked again.

"I was eating," Lux repeated.

"You growled because you were eating?" Baze asked.

"Yes." Lux answered. "That's why I moved over here to eat. I get hostile. The growl was just a warning to stay away from my food. That it was mine."

"You know….normal people don't growl…..ever." Cate said softly as the information started to sink in.

"I know." Lux said darkly after a few moments.


	6. Chapter 6

**An: Ok so the results are in. I know I said I would post another chapter the next day but I had a lot going on and the results didn't come in as fast as I anticipated. Now however, is the weekend so here is the next chapter. For those of you who don't know how the poll went. The winning option was that she tells Cate and Baze that she isn't ready to tell them about her past.**

Lux sighed. Both Cate and Baze were looking at her with a mixture of confusion, fear, worry, and anticipation. "I'm not ready to tell you what happened just yet. I'm not ready to tell _anyone_ what happened. You guys have a right to know though. I'm not…..I'm not normal. I'm not…..human." She opened her mouth to continue but she had run out of steam and she really needed to know how they reacted to the information she had already given them so she shut her mouth.

Cate and Baze looked at her strangely. They were torn between thinking it was all a big joke and believing her. On the one hand they had heard her growl and they did see her wolf down all that food. On the other hand the logical part of their brains told them it wasn't possible for her not to be human. It was something out of a movie or a comic book.

"No jokes Lux." Baze said seriously. Lux shook her head, an almost ashamed look on her face.

"It's not a joke. I'll tell you how it happened when I'm ready but I'm not ready now." Lux said. She studied them both carefully waiting for the inevitable rejection.

"I don't…..That only happens in the movies Lux." Cate said desperately, but the look of anxiety was clear on Lux's face.

"Does it?" Lux demanded.

Cate's statement touched a nerve. Lux had thought the same thing before and even in the beginning when she started getting her abilities. Sure at first it was just the heightened senses, the desire to put every scent she came across in her mouth. It had been difficult but she curbed that nasty part of her enhancements. Her heightened senses couldn't be toned down but at least they weren't noticeable like the other enhancements were. She had spent months denying what had happened to her but she couldn't ignore the abilities she had now and while she still hated that she wasn't entirely human anymore she eventually accepted it.

Lux stood and let her more noticeable enhancements bleed through her human features. Her canines grew long and pointed so they just brushed the outside of her bottom lip, not entirely noticeable unless looking at her mouth specifically. Her hands grew broader, more paw-like; her nails grew long, sharp, and pointed so they appeared more like claws instead of nails. Her eyes, once blue were now auburn and threatening.

"Look at me and say that again." Lux said an inch away from Cates face. Cate swallowed, eyes wide, and said nothing. Lux backed up and went back to normal, sitting back down.

Cate and Baze tried to recover from their shock. "When…" Cate tried.

"I don't want to talk about it." Lux said defensively.

"I understand if you don't want to talk about how but I think I have a right to know when!" Cate said loudly. Lux winced. Cate's volume was hard on her ears.

"I don't want to tell you when." Lux stated calmly.

"No, Lux." Baze said. "I'm with Cate on this one. How long have you lived like this?"

Lux sighed. "It was very painful. I don't like thinking about it let alone talk about it." She was trying to push the subject away and in the process let something slip. She hoped it would be overlooked but if not she would just leave. She couldn't bring herself to talk about it.

"It was painful!" Cate said guiltily.

"Look if I tell you when it happened could we let it go until I'm ready to talk about it?" Lux tried. "At this point it's that or I need to leave because I really can't talk about it yet."

"Alright." Baze agreed. Cate nodded still looking guilty.

"I was four." Lux sighed. "When it happened, I was four."

"What," Cate started. Baze was interested too but he knew not to push Lux for any more information. She had already said that she wouldn't tell them anything more than how old she had been.

"It must have been hard." Baze cut in.

"Sometimes," Lux admitted.

_Two Days Later_

Cate was anxiously looking at Fran trying to gage what she was thinking.

"Well from what I can see everything seems to be in order." Fran said looking at Cate. "However," she continued, looking at Baze. "Cate will be put down as the primary caregiver since you do not have adequate room set up for Lux at your place." Both Baze and Cate nodded at Fran and then looked at Lux.

Lux was looking around at everything. True she had been there for a few nights but she had had school and therefore not enough time to explore her new surroundings. She was only slightly aware of what Fran was saying. True she could have heard her from any part of the house easily if she wanted to, right now she was so zoned out that she didn't hear a word that was said and she supposed that might be a good thing.

Cate was going to ask Lux if she was ok since she seemed so preoccupied with her surroundings rather than what was going on but Fran, seeing where her gaze was, stopped her. "Lux!" Fran called out to her. Said girl snapped her attention to the social worker. "You have my number if you need anything." She said. Lux nodded.

"Yeah, I have it."

"Good, well I'll be on my way." Fran said, again Lux nodded before going back to looking around. Cate and Baze both followed Fran out.

Cate was the only one to return. Ryan, Cate's boyfriend, was tactfully giving Cate and Lux time to get to know each other better. Baze decided to go back to the bar and sulk over not being able to have Lux.

Lux by this point was slowly making her way towards Cate's room. Her sense of smell was what was leading her around the house and she hadn't fully realized that what she was following was Cate's scent. She entered the bedroom and stopped, eyes flicking everywhere wondering where to follow the scent first. Behind her Cate was standing in the doorway looking at her. Lux slowly and methodically made her way through the room unaware of Cate's presence.

When she got to the bed Cate spoke. "What are you looking for?" Cate asked having watched Lux go through her closet, her drawers, all over her floor and now examining her bed.

Lux jumped. She looked at Cate and said matter-of-factly. "You sleep on the left."

Cate nodded walking towards Lux before sitting on the bed and motioning for Lux to do the same. "Yes, I sleep on the left. That doesn't answer my question though."

Lux looked at her confused. "I'm not looking for anything."

"Then why are you going through all my things?" Cate asked.

Lux looked apologetic. "I'm sorry."

Cate chuckled. "For what?"

"For going through your things."

"Why did you?"

Lux shrugged. "Your scent was all over everything."

"Because this is my room."

"Ryan's scent is here too." Lux stated.

Cate was uncomfortable. "Well yes." Lux nodded. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing."

"You've been odd all day." Cate said, exasperated.

"I've been exploring all day." Lux said, cheerfully.

Cate was confused. Exploring? Exploring what? As far as Cate knew Lux had only been to school and her house. What was there to explore?

"Exploring where?"

"The house." Lux said as though Cate were being intentionally silly. This didn't clear up Cate's confusion.

"You've been here for two days though. Why explore now?"

"Because I have time to."

Cate nodded. "Are you done exploring?"

"Your room? Yes. The entire house? Not a chance."

"What is there left to explore?" Cate asked in amusement.

"Everything." Lux stated. "You don't understand because you don't perceive things the way I do. You see a painted wall but I see every stroke the paint brush made to paint it. I still smell the scent of carpet glue even though it's been two years since you replaced your carpet."

"How did you know I replaced my carpet two years ago?" Cate asked in amazement.

"The scent is somewhat faded as though it's been awhile since the glue was placed down. While your scent is strong in the carpet it still has the faintest scent of that new carpet smell. My eyes tell me how much traffic the carpet has seen, how often you go in a certain area, things like that. If you put it all together you can roughly guess how old something is." Lux said casually. The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes before Lux stood. "Ryan just pulled onto the street."

Cate marveled at how much Lux could hear when a few moments later Ryan stepped into the house with his arms full of groceries. "What animal are you?" Cate asked.

Ryan looked confused but Lux got a thoughtful look on her face. "I'm not sure. I never went through the trouble of trying to find out but I'm pretty sure it's some kind of cat."

"Should I know what you two are talking about?" Ryan asked.

"It's safer for you if you don't." Lux commented as she put things away. Then she went up to her room.

Cate on the other hand was going through another problem. Could Lux hear her and Ryan at night when he stayed over? She hoped not but at the same time knew that she most likely could.


	7. Chapter 7

Cate ended up asking Ryan to leave that night as what Lux had said about her senses were still fresh in her mind. She didn't want her only daughter listening to those kinds of things and it wasn't as if she could just tell Ryan that Lux had better senses than the two of them combined as Lux had said it was safer for Ryan if he didn't know anything special about Lux. Cate sighed. Her life had been completely turned upside down in only a matter of four days.

Cate started to take out food for dinner but thought better of it when she remembered that she wasn't a very good cook. She called up to Lux and asked what she would like to eat that night. Lux came down in response.

"Ryan just bought a bunch of food." She answered. "Don't tell me you can't cook?" there was a playful smirk on her lips.

Cate frowned. "I can cook." She paused and reluctantly said "just not very well."

Lux sighed, shaking her head. "Trust me. It's a lot easier to buy a bunch of ingredients than it is to buy a bunch of fast food for one meal." She started taking a bunch of things out. "At least it is when you're trying to blend in."

"With a name like Lux I don't think you blend in enough." Cate replied.

"Exactly." Lux stopped pulling things out and looked straight into Cate's eyes. "My name stands out. People hear my name and it doesn't sound like a normal name. They hear the name Mike or Sara and they think 'well there are plenty of names like that tracking him or her down would take forever'. If you were to look me up it would be all too easy to find me. Once they hear my name they think it's unusual. Once something unusual is noticed people start digging. Digging is very bad in my situation."

"Why?"

Lux started laughing. "I was experimented on once Cate! Now I'm different I have special abilities. I could probably take on an entire army and win with only a few minor injuries." She stopped and looked thoughtful. "Well I could if I was trained to fight. I fight mostly on instinct because I don't have combat training so I'm not the best fighter but I can hold my own."

Cate looked at her alarmed. "Who have you been fighting?"

Lux stared at her for a moment, analyzing Cate's tone and body language, before giving Cate a small smile to reassure her. "No one. My friends and I play fight every now and then. I never get hurt though." It was a lie but it seemed to work, for now at least.

Lux continued to cook dinner while Cate stood and watched. There were a few minutes of silence before Cate spoke again. "Is it very difficult?" Lux looked at her questionably after she placed the food in the oven and closed the door. "Your…special abilities, is it difficult?"

Lux looked thoughtful and it was awhile before she answered. "Sometimes." She finally answered. "It isn't all that bad most of the time. I can eat a larger than normal meals everyday but it just seems as though I haven't eaten in a few days or just have a nice appetite it isn't always as abnormal as eating an entire feast so it doesn't draw as much attention as one would think. Most people as so caught up in their own world that they don't notice much about the world around them and it works to my advantage. My….abilities…well for the most part I can be normal. I don't use them for days at a time usually. The only difficult part really is when every instinct in you is yelling at you to kill someone because of something they said to you or did towards you and fighting it tooth and nail because you know if you give in…you're nothing more than an animal."

She began cleaning up the kitchen and Cate wondered if Lux was going to continue or not. "I know it sounds bad to you. I just stood here and told you that I honestly can't help but try to kill someone. But it's really a fact that I had to come to terms with and be proud of when I can just walk away without transforming, or maiming whoever angered me. I think…if you really want to make this work…..it's something you need to know and come to terms with…that part of your daughter…isn't capable of thinking like a human anymore."

Cate waited only a few seconds after hearing that to say something. "You are capable of thinking like a human Lux. You are human. I do want to make this work Lux believe me I do but-"

"But what Cate?" Lux demanded.

"But it's hard when you won't tell me what exactly was done to you." Cate said. "I can't understand what your abilities do to you unless I know what was done."

Lux's face showed nothing but relief now. "That's it? You just want to know what happened. You aren't mad about my instincts and abilities?"

Cate was confused and it showed on her face. "Of course not."

"Well…." Lux said hesitantly, looking at the timer she had set. "We have some time….and even though I'm not ready to tell you what happened I can tell you what each improvement was _supposed_ to do and what it _really_ did."

Cate smiled. "I'd like that."

Both Cate and Lux moved to the living room and sat on the couch; both bracing themselves for what was about to be said.


	8. Chapter 8

Lux took a deep breath before starting. "I think I'll go from top to bottom if you don't mind…..then you can ask questions. Ok?" Cate nodded. "My eyes were _improved_ with the intention of enabling me to see anything and everything. See through doors, walls, in the dark, in the pouring rain, through all sorts of weather and it worked to a certain extent." Cate looked at her questioningly so lux elaborated. "I can see in all types of weather no matter how bad, and I can see further than any hawk could ever hope to as well as being able to see things at night just as well as I can during the day. He didn't succeed in giving me x-ray vision and for that I'm grateful." She finished with a shudder.

"Next are my teeth. I don't know if you noticed them the other night because my other features can be more overwhelming than my teeth can be and they aren't all that noticeable unless you're looking for them but they were actually a gift."

Cate interrupted. "_A gift_?

"Well yes." Lux said. "My teeth weren't perfect. I was actually starting to lose my first baby tooth and I was only four. So he improved them. By the time he was done experimenting I had all of my adult teeth, razor sharp, can cut through anything, and I mean _anything_. I once chewed straight through steel. I don't think he expected the fangs but they give me a better hold on my prey at least and they work wonders when I try to intimidate someone." She shrugged. "I'm a lot stronger than the average person….I'm pretty sure I could lift a car if I wanted…I've never actually tried though. My hands, probably the most obvious of my enhancements besides my eyes, my feet are actually affected too. He did it because animals have a better grip on the ground than humans do. He reasoned that if we had some animal DNA then we would be the best out of both races. Again it worked to a certain extent. While we are the best out of both creatures we aren't completely able to restrain our animal instincts that came with the DNA. In a sense we got the best and worse out of both species. We sometimes lose the ability to reason. The ability to reason is what makes a human what they are. Without it…we aren't human."

Cate waited to see if Lux was done before asking her questions. "We?"

Lux had been so preoccupied with telling about her abilities and their flaws that she hadn't noticed she slipped into the plural, giving away that there had been at least one other with her. Lux sighed and nodded knowing Cate wasn't going to let that go and really nothing changed by her knowing. "His son."

"His who?" Cate asked.

Lux hesitated before answering and when she did it was more of a murmur. "Anderson. The man's name was Anderson Glazer."

"He did what he did to you…..to his own son?" Cate asked.

"I don't believe he ever considered Victor as his son to tell you the truth." Lux stated much like they were discussing the matter over coffee and she was telling a fictional story. "Victor was never interested in experimentation. He believed it was wrong. When his father discovered this I think Victor just became a test subject; a lab rat." It was much easier to discuss Victor's past rather than her own. "Victor was never unintelligent and to be completely honest I believe he knew what his father had planned for him. He just….didn't expect me to be involved." Lux sighed, looking sad. "Victor and I had been close…..we aren't anymore and I don't think we ever will be again."

Suddenly the timer went off and Lux went to take the food out. Cate sat there in shock. She had given Lux up because she had believed Lux would be better off but what kind of parent knowingly experiments on their own child? The thought made her sick to her stomach because as much as Lux told her that night Cate could tell there was still so much that Lux was keeping to herself and she doubted Lux would ever tell her.

A few weeks past and Lux was pretty elusive now, not physically but mentally and emotionally. As easy as it had been to get Lux to open up those first few days it was now as difficult to get her to tell them anything.

Cate had been torn between telling Ryan and Baze what lux had told her and keeping it to herself. In the end she reasoned if Lux wanted Ryan and Baze to know she could easily tell them. Cate didn't want to break what fragile trust Lux and she seemed to have, not that Lux seemed to be having any trouble bonding with Baze and even Ryan more than her.

Now however Lux looked to be constantly on edge. She would zone out for minutes at a time before snapping back to reality even more on edge then when she had zoned out. The more Baze, Cate, and Ryan tried to get Lux to open up about what was bothering her, the more she snapped and edgy she became.

Lux knew that she was worrying everyone but she was too busy worrying _about_ everyone. It wasn't like Victor to take so long in trying to get his revenge and by now she knew he must have tracked her scent to Cate's as her primary location. He should be waiting to ambush her at any moment but she couldn't sense him. She had no scent to tell her if he was even close. There were no surprise attacks. Instead of feeling good about the lull it put her on edge and she worried that she might not be the target anymore or she was and he was going to use someone as bait in order for things to go his way. He had always been smart after all.


	9. Chapter 9

Her worst fears were realized when Ryan and Cate had to go to a promotional event called Drink a Date. Lux had a bad feeling when they left. Cate had asked her if she wanted to go too since it was in Baze's bar. Cate said she could stay in the loft above the bar if she wanted but Lux declined and said she would just stay at Cate's. She had almost demanded, begged, pleaded, and thrown an all-out temper tantrum like a two year old but she had held in all in nicely and Cate had no clue about her bad feeling. In the end Lux had gone back on what she had said earlier and asked Cate if she could go with to Baze's.

Cate had readily agreed. It wasn't so much that she was happy that Lux would be with Baze above a bar and more like Lux would be right upstairs and pretty much under her nose if anything happened. Cate had only just gotten Lux back and now she was becoming quite possessive of Lux.

Lux sat quietly above the bar listening to all that was happening. She was sitting on the couch, the door cracked open only because it was a little easier, eyes closed. She was trying to keep an eye on Baze, Ryan and Cate by using no other sense but hearing. That was going to be the thing that tipped her off. It was difficult as there were so many people and so many other noises and truth be told she was really only focusing on Cate because, while Baze and Ryan were no match for Victor, they would still be able to hold him off long enough for her to get there and attack Victor to redirect his attention. Cate wouldn't have that chance. Victor was more meticulous with women. He would seduce them into going with him and they would be long gone before they even realized they'd been tricked.

If Victor was there, he would most likely go for Cate because she would be the easiest to subdue and get to willingly follow him without making a scene. Lux couldn't smell him, she couldn't see him, she couldn't hear him, but she knew he was too close for comfort.

Cate and Ryan were joking with each other on stage putting on a show and trying to rake in more date names when she saw him.

He had silver eyes that seemed to have a knowing glint in them. His white hair fell to mid-cheek but still made him look sophisticated almost as though he were royalty. He wore a grey t-shirt that clung to his body, showing off all of his muscles. She could easily see how muscular he was because even standing halfway across the room she could count every single one of his abs and his triceps pushed the arm holes of the shirt to their limits in a way that every girl noticed and drooled over. If Cate had to give an approximate size to the man she would say about 6'2" though maybe more.

He caught her staring and for some reason she didn't mind because as soon as the realization sunk in a new one was at the forefront of her mind. He was motioning for her to come to him with his index finger and she could only feel herself going towards him and her heart hammering in her chest.

Lux quickly opened her eyes. **No!** She thought. She rushed downstairs trying to make it through the mob but by the time she did all that was left of the two were the skid marks outside the front door and no car in sight. Lux needed to do something and fast. Her first instinct was to run after the scent of the car and hope to catch up before they made it to Anderson's lab but she knew that if she did there would be a search party everywhere not only looking for Cate but for her as well and that wasn't what they needed right then. She made the difficult decision of running back inside and telling both Baze and Ryan a version of the truth. Cate was going to be away for a while to and Lux was going with her. Both Ryan and Baze couldn't believe the story but the look on Lux's face make them accept the story for now and demand the truth when the two got back.

Lux reluctantly agreed and set out after the car that had taken Cate. She knew she should have thrown that temper tantrum or claimed abandonment issues.


	10. Chapter 10

Lux knew that she hadn't made it in time to stop Cate from reaching Anderson's lab when she crossed the border of Washington State. When she stopped she was in the woods far away from any town or city. It was raining but that wasn't really a big surprise to her. The scent of falling rain soothed her but also made her upset because Cate's scent was being rinsed away, not that she didn't know where the entrance to Anderson's lab was, but still it would be easier as the lab had many entries and exits.

Right now she was headed for the Stoneden entrance. It was near the bottom of the mountains which is how it got its name, it would be easier to escape through and she knew how to get to it from anywhere in the lab. The trick would be finding Cate because she knew Victor never used this exit unless he was chasing her. He hated to feel boxed in and the mountains did just that.

She was glad she always wore soft-soled shoes when she entered the lab. The ground wouldn't have a lab-like feel to it if the walls and floor weren't hard and made of nothing but metal. She snuck through the hallways generally avoiding anywhere she knew guards would be. She could take them out and kill them but it would be hard to hide the bodies and if someone radioed in to check on them and they didn't answer then the alarm would be raised. The farther she could go into the lab without encountering anyone the better for everyone around.

Cate had only been in the car for all of seven seconds before she realized that she had been tricked and by that point they were a long way away from Open Bar. Now she was sitting in a cell on a cold steel floor in a building that had a lab-ish feel. The man that had tricked her hadn't said a word to her. Not before he tricked her, not after she figured out she had been tricked, not when she had started screaming, and not when she had started demanding answers. He had been completely silent the entire time until at least he had dropped her into her cold cell.

The entire way to her cell had been pitch dark and she had been sure he had to be lost because she hadn't been able to see anything but suddenly they were in a dimly lit room with prison cells lining the right side of the room. She had thought she was stuck until he finally spoke. "My father will be here to speak with you soon." Then he had left the room.

She tried every way she could think of to get out of the cell by the time someone entered the room once more. She looked over to the source of the noise and saw what appeared to be an old man from a distance but she was proven wrong when he approached her and stopped just in front of her cell.

He was a tall lean man. He had greasy brown hair that was obviously turning grey. His face held a few wrinkles that Cate thought were due to stress judging by the state of his hair. He appeared to be in good shape, not well muscled but it was clear he wasn't frail and weak. His eyes were a kaleidoscope of blue-grey colors. When he smiled at her he revealed a chipped bottom tooth.

"Your friend is very dangerous to have around." He commented.

Cate looked at him in confusion. "Friend? What friend?"

"The girl, woman! The girl!" the man snapped losing all pretense of friendliness.

"What-" Cate started but then she realized what the man meant. He was talking about Lux. She glared at him. "What does she have to do with you?"

"She belongs to me." The man growled. "She's my property."

"And who exactly are you?" Cate snapped back. The man smiled.

"Glazer. Anderson Glazer."


	11. Chapter 11

Lux was starting to push her body to its limits. She had never had to be as stealthy as she had to be now. She had gone far enough into the lab that avoiding guards was becoming impossible furthermore she had yet to pick up on Cate's scent. Her day was just getting better and better.

Cate stared at the man who had just revealed himself as Anderson Glazer; the man who had experimented on her daughter. She wanted to yell and scream at him but couldn't get past her shock enough to do it. She could barely keep standing on her own two feet. Now she knew who had taken her. She had been tricked by Victor, Anderson's son.

Victor came up behind his father but said nothing. "Now I believe your name is Cate correct?" Anderson smirked. "I've also found out that you've been harboring my property."

"It gets better than that father." Victor spoke emotionlessly. "She's also Lux's mother; her birth mother."

Anderson's smirk turned into a wide grin. "Is that so?" His eyes moved up and down her body, making her feel like she was a piece of meat that he was thinking of buying. "I wonder…..just how much trouble she would go through to save you."

Cate swallowed as fear flooded her entire body. She didn't like how he was looking at her or what he possibly had in mind. There was no doubt for her. The two men standing outside her cell were insane.

"Victor, bring her to the experimentation room." Anderson said as he spun and walked out of the room, hands folded behind his back.

Victor unlocked the cell door and quickly restrained Cate before she could even try to resist. He threw her over his shoulder and followed his father to the worst place in the entire lab.

Lux knew she was finally getting close because she picked up the faint scent of Cate. She increased her speed while still remaining silent; she had come too far to be stopped now just because she had been impatient and careless. She entered the room with the holding cells only to find it empty. Making sure the door was closed behind her; she let out a scream of frustration.

Suddenly a loud male voice echoed throughout the entire lab. Lux knew immediately who it was. Anderson. The thought alone made her growl.

"I know you're here Lux. You've improved your game since the last time we met. It seems you've learned from your mistakes about being impatient and violent. Victor picked up your scent a few moments ago Lux, my pet. Don't worry I'm not sending him to fetch you, I know you'll come to me willingly."

"Yeah right" Lux growled.

"You see this time I have a bargaining chip." Fear flooded through Lux like it never had before. "I have your mother, pet. She has been such a nice guest too." Lux's growling intensified now. "You have twenty minutes to come to the experimentation room, pet. If you don't…..well your mother will have a firsthand account on what it was like to be you all those years ago. I'm waiting Lux my pet. Be sure not to disappoint me."

Lux was at war with herself. Every logical part of her brain said that it was a trap but every instinct in her told her to go charging down there and save Cate from experiencing the pain that she endured. In the end instinct won out because she was already halfway down the hallway hurtling towards the experimentation room before she could even consider her options knowing full well that it was indeed a trap.


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Ok wow! This chapter took me five rewrites until I was satisfied with it enough to post it. Usually I'll write a chapter and then edit and then post but this time it took me five times just to write. See the trouble I go through for my readers?**

It only took her fifteen minutes in order to reach the room she hated most. She could see even without entering the room that Cate was bound to one of the operating tables. Lux had taken the route that gave her a view through the one glass wall of the room while still remaining unseen. She only had five minutes before Anderson decided that waiting wasn't going to work and that the torture of Cate just might.

Anderson had always been a punctual man and he had instilled that upon both children. He had always told them "Show up on time or not at all." So to reinforce this they had been harshly punished whenever they were even a second late because "one second is the difference between life and death."

Lux and Victor had never truly resented being punished for being a second late or the fact that Anderson was always demanding punctuality. They had accepted these facts long before they had accepted anything else about the man. They did resent that the man seemed more interested in making perfect soldiers than paying attention to them. Being on time meant that they might get praise, being late: discipline; both at the hands of the man that was always far too busy.

Victor and Lux were always right on time now. They had joked when they were younger saying that though something may start at one time they always arrived when they meant to and if they arrived when they meant to then they weren't exactly late. Anderson hadn't been pleased with that but then he hadn't argued the point either so long as they arrived when he told them to.

They hadn't known then that he was training them. Even before the experiment he had been conditioning them to commands and time schedules, and always being right on time. They hadn't known why everything they did had to calculated and perfect. They didn't know why Anderson made a friend of his come by twice a week and teach them combat. They assumed it was because Anderson cared about how people perceived them but they knew better now. Anderson had been shaping them up to be the perfect soldiers and now that was what they were. Victor had gotten lost, whether by choice, by pain, by loss of memory, or by control Lux didn't know but he was lost. Lux alone remained.

They had been the perfect team at one point. Despite what she had told Cate, Lux had had the best combat training there ever was. Victor had trained right beside her and, regardless of their age difference, Lux had been able to keep up with Victor, surpassing him even, at times. She had often wondered if Victor had simply allowed her to do so but after a while she began to question that.

Between the two of them there had been no test that they couldn't accomplish. Victor had been big and strong and could take on many opponents. She had been small, able to outthink her opponent, trick them, and often lead them places only she could escape from. For a while it seemed that Anderson was pleased with that and Lux and Victor were happy that he seemed satisfied but before long even that had changed. He started demanding more from them, demanding that they defeat their opponents faster, even though their bodies were already being pushed to their limits. He made them run simulation after simulation all through the night and day never resting until he was satisfied and that often wasn't until they had long since collapsed and could no longer move due to exhaustion.

They were young but they were masters of combat and strategy before the experiment had even happened. In the end Victor had been the one to discover what his father had been doing and what his plans were. Unfortunately, they weren't aware of the time when he would begin his testing and their luck ran out.

When they discovered out Anderson's plan they went through a ten minute period of denial. Their training allowed them no more than that to refuse the facts in front of them. Next they started to strategize but it had been too late. Training dictated that you only do something once a plan has been made and every detail has been analyzed to ensure no loose ends. Before they were given a chance to come up with a plan of more than just 'run away' they had been summoned to Anderson's lab.

They had been strapped down as Cate now was, unable to free themselves. Anderson injected both of them with something and then went over to one of his machines. Next thing Lux had known was pain. Nothing but pain filled all of her senses. Her mind was pushed to its breaking point but she was still acutely aware of everything in the room and it only seemed to grow stronger.

She shook her head and brought herself back to the present. She had to focus on Cate. She could remember any other time. Just not now. Right now she had to focus completely on getting Cate out of the building before Anderson gave her a first-hand account of exactly what she went through. The thought caused Lux to shudder.

Truth be told she had absolutely no plan. There wasn't a way to sneak in there and grab Cate then leave. Victor was in there. The moment she stepped into that room it would be over and Anderson would have her. Victor and Lux had always been equals when they were younger but Lux knew Anderson had experimented on Victor so much that he was far beyond her now.

Their little sparing matches were just tests. If Victor hadn't been ordered to bring her back alive and in good health then she would have died ten times over. She wasn't getting around this one unless she left Cate to whatever Anderson had planned for her. That wasn't an option.

She sighed. It seemed she had only one option. She retreated a few feet to a communications box. She hoped that Victor hadn't changed his code to speak through the box because her code was no longer valid. Anderson changed his code every few days so she knew she would never be able to use his code. However Victor had never been good at remembering a sequence of numbers and he now spent his days tracking her down so Lux doubted that he would have changed the code.

568187 she entered. Then she held her breath. "Code accepted" a female voice said. "Communications online."

Lux nodded and took a deep breath. It was all or nothing at this point but now that she was at the controls she had a new idea. A valid plan. She used Victor's code to hack into the security system and knocked out all cameras, and then she started shutting down the electricity in certain parts of the lab. Using Victor's code to get in and then changing the master password on her way out. Anderson would be informed of the changes but he wouldn't be able to get in to stop them.

She mimicked Victor's voice over the communication headsets and told security to leave the building claiming that a prisoner had escaped and they needed to follow him. Things were looking better for her and Cate now but she still had much to deal with and there was still a very large chance that things wouldn't work out for the better.

Once she had finished setting things up for her escape should things go her way, she used Victor's code one last time. "Anderson." She spoke over the system. "I have come close to doing as you requested. Now I feel we should trade."

Anderson's voice was furious when it answered back. "Trade what?"

"Me for her." Lux stated calmly. She could hear Cate start to argue. Lux wished that she would shut up for once. "I am who you want after all. Send Cate out. Let her go home. In return I promise to surrender quietly and not try to escape for at least a week."

"No." Anderson said. It was clear in his voice he hadn't even considered it for a moment. True he didn't care about the woman but he wanted Lux and he was sure she wouldn't uphold her end of the deal just like he knew that Lux knew he wouldn't either. There was no point in making the deal if it was going to be broken by both parties.

"You're mean." Lux mumbled but it was still heard over the system and caused Anderson to laugh. She even heard Victor chuckling. Cate had gone silent.

"What's that supposed to mean pet?" Anderson asked. "I gave you power didn't I? I made it so no one could hurt you didn't I? I am the one who provided for you while you were here. It was me who gave you your first Christmas present. Yet I'm the bad guy? For wanting you to be the best there ever was, best there ever will be? I'm hurt Lux."

Lux winced at the use of her name. Anderson rarely called her Lux and the times he didn't weren't fond memories. She hated being called pet but she knew that when he called her Lux, no matter the tone, she was in trouble. Being called pet meant that he was amused with her, disappointed, slightly angry, possessive, or he approved of what she was doing. Being called Lux meant that he was furious and she was going to be on the receiving end of it all.

"I never wanted all of that Anderson. I didn't want to be great. I didn't want to be the best and we all know you didn't do what you did for me. You did it for yourself. It was all for your own benefit Anderson. It always was and it always will be that way."

"A difference in opinion I suppose." Anderson replied coldly.

"A big difference." Lux stated matter-of-factly. "I'm coming Anderson….and when I get there…you're going to wish you had taken my offer. And Victor….if you've chosen your father's side…I'm not holding back anymore…we end this here and now…..once and for all…only one of us leaves here alive."

She ended the communications and took off for the experimentation room. She went straight through the glass wall and entered her last fight for freedom. It really didn't last that long because before long she was strapped to a vertical metal board.

"Reinforced steel?" Lux growled out at Anderson who was smirking at her.

"You know how I like to keep my pets in line." He responded.

"I hate you." Lux hissed. After that she began struggling; trying to get her teeth onto the restraints. She was quickly losing her ability to reason and it was showing. Cate could only watch as she saw what Lux had meant that night.

"_**While we are the best out of both creatures we aren't completely able to restrain our animal instincts that came with the DNA. In a sense we got the best and worse out of both species. We sometimes lose the ability to reason. The ability to reason is what makes a human what they are. Without it…we aren't human."**_

Lux had let all her enhancements show themselves and she was thrashing against the restraints. Between the features, the thrashing, and the growling she looked every bit a wild dangerous animal.

Finally she managed to get her teeth onto one of the restraints and before long her hand was free. Once one hand was free removing the other was easy. Victor tackled her but she flipped him over. She loved Victor but he threatened Cate and Baze and she needed to make a decision.

Before it had only been about her. Victor had only threatened her but now she had to think about someone else. It wasn't just about her anymore. No one cared whether she lived or died before and despite only knowing Cate and Baze for little over a month she had a feeling that they would. It was both a good and bad feeling.

Before she could disappear for days at a time doing whatever she pleased. She could have allowed Victor to find her over and over again only to narrowly escape. She no longer had that option. Leaving Victor and Anderson alive this time meant that they could show up and take Cate and Baze at any time. Running was no longer an option. It was time to make a difficult decision: let Victor and Anderson live despite the fact that they would most likely end up killing Cate or kill them both and be a murderer.

Lux sighed. "I'm sorry Victor." She murmured

Victor lunged for her but she avoided him just in time. She headed for Anderson and once he realized this he began running backwards. He had a gun in his hand before long and Victor was on Lux's tail. Anderson fired three shots. The first two Lux avoided, and they ended up hitting Victor. The third one grazed her arm.

Lux pounced on top of Anderson and snapped his neck, his strength was nothing compared to hers. Victor was still alive but severely wounded. He would heal but it would take a few weeks for him to be at full strength. She stood looking down at him for a few minutes, looking for something that would tell her that her brother was still somewhere in that shell or if she would have to kill him.

They looked at each other for a long time before Lux found what she was looking for. It was only a small glimpse but she saw it. Gratitude. Lux gave him a sharp nod before turning her back on him and heading toward Cate. She could hear him slowly getting up. Lux knew he would probably start searching for his mother. She hoped he would succeed and at the same time she hoped he didn't because she was sure that if he did she would never see him again. Perhaps it was for the best.

"Can we go home now?" Lux asked. Sure she had made killing Anderson, fighting Victor, and breaking her restraints look effortless but really she was completely spent. It would take her days to recover from the things she had had to do in the last two days. Furthermore Cate had said something about her switching schools and she knew that would be a whole new problem.

**AN: Ok I can end it here and start a sequel or I can continue with this story. It doesn't matter to me because I do still have more but right now I can either start a new one or continue and I don't know when I might have a good ending for a sequel again. Anyway I think this story is going to be a trilogy. Whether or not this story ends this chapter or in another ten I'm still sure I'm going to have a trilogy. The next book can start where Lux and Cate get home from this mess or the next chapter can be that it is entirely up to you. So let me know in your reviews remember you really are just deciding how long the story is. There will be three regardless.**


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